


an earlier heaven

by sylvainplath



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cooking, Domestic Bliss, F/F, Family Fluff, Post-Canon, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylvainplath/pseuds/sylvainplath
Summary: Edelgard and Byleth's little family.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Original Character(s), Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth & Original Character(s)
Kudos: 74





	an earlier heaven

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday gift for a friend. The children are his OC Edeleth kids.

“Mommy,” a high pitched voice cries in Byleth’s ear. “ _M_ _ommy,_ it’s so late. Get up!” 

Byleth rolls around in her bed, stretching her arm over her face to hide the sun glaring down on her now that Carmine has flung open the curtains. “Five more minutes,” she mumbles. 

“No!” Carmine seethes, flopping down onto Byleth’s stomach. “It’s twenty-three minutes after eleven o’clock, Mommy.”

“...Oh, is it?” Byleth murmurs. She looks over to the red oak clock on the wall opposite her bed. “So it is…”

She grabs Carmine by the waist and squeezes her, tickling her. “Ah,” Carmine cries, “Noooo, ahahaha!”

When Carmine’s had enough and starts trying to tickle Byleth too, she indulges her for exactly ninety seconds before she’s had enough. “Okay, kiddo, how is everything? What have I missed?”

“Mama’s in her study, but I’ve met with my morning tutors already. Don’t forget you promised to train with me this evening! I checked, it will be hot in the afternoon, so don’t forget about it! You have lots of time. And I want to get flowers for Mama.”Byleth laughs at her. She’s so cute. 

“Then we’ll do that. Shall I make you breakfast?” 

Byleth’s daughter hops off her mother and stands as tall as she can, a stern pout on her face and her tiny arms crossed. She’s ten now, but… “It’s nearly noon, mommy.”

Byleth stands, pulls the curls from her eyes and lets Carmine stand on the bed to tie it back loosely. When she finishes, Carmine glues herself to Byleth. 

“Well then, I’ll… make lunch instead. Will you help me?” Byleth asks, gazing down at her child who has wrapped herself completely around Byleth’s right arm as she walks. 

“Yes! Yes! Please. Yes please.” her daughter squeals, very devoted to her manners but still full of her own zeal. She’s polite and determined, unwavering in a childish way that reminds Byleth of Edelgard. El is this child’s mother through and through.

They enter their personal kitchen, where Byleth tries to refine her cooking skills sometimes, so she can treat her family. She likes caretaking. Carmine sets up her stool and starts boiling water for tea. Byleth improvises soup with stock she has been making herself. She’s newer to it, having relied on the same unrefined recipe for all of her mercenary life. But she’s happy when she notices a spice or meat that her family enjoys. She has a garden, too, and fills the soup with slices of meat, dark greens, root vegetables and beans. 

“How about we make your Mama a treat, Carmine?” She asks, once the soup is simmering on the stove. 

“Like what?”

“You choose. Something sweet, since she works so hard.”

“Oh, like sweet buns! Can we do that?”

“You’re going to have to watch me, so I don’t burn them,” Byleth tells her.

“Obviously,” Carmine rolls her eyes. 

* * *

When Byleth and her daughter knock on Edelgard’s study doors and stumble inside with their lunch on trays, Edelgard is sitting, their infant twins bouncing on her left and right shoulder and a quill scribbling in her right hand. She’s wearing such a pretty smile, looking so serene. Byleth’s breaths stutter even now to see it. 

“El…” she calls out, her voice soft so the twins stay asleep. “We brought you lunch. And a treat.”

Edelgard looks up from her papers, eyes widened in mild surprise. There’s no stress lines on her face right now, at peace with her children, and it makes her look so innocent. Carmine juggles the pot of Hresvelg blend tea she’s holding while she pulls up the small tea table in the corner of El’s office and sets it next to her mother’s desk. She sets the pot down, and goes to El’s small cupboard with the matching teacups in them, sets them on her mother’s tea table. She brings out cream and sugar, prim and proper and very elegant. She’s a wondrous little girl, truly. Byleth’s new heart trembles with fondness for her.

“Did you do all this, Carmine?” Edelgard asks, joking. 

Carmine’s eyebrows furrow. “I did a lot, Mama. I made the tea, except Mommy wouldn’t let me touch the boiling water…”

“That’s good. She and I agree on that,” Edelgard says, pouring sugar into her teacup. “But I’ll tell you what: just today, you can pour the tea. With Mommy’s guidance. How does that sound?”

“But Mama,” Carmine sighs. “I’m 10. I do not need any help _pouring tea!"  
_

“I know you don’t, little darling, but for your Mama’s sake, please don’t risk it with hot water just yet. Let me baby you a little longer.”

Carmine looks conflicted, but she relents. “Yes, I suppose that I can. I would not want you to forget I’m your baby too.

“Huh?” Byleth can’t restrain her exclamation. Edelgard looks similarly distraught. 

“What do you mean? Have we treated you differently?” 

“Not at all. But I’m the biggest now, so don’t forget to treat me too now that we have smaller people.”

Edelgard laughs in bemusement. “We never would.”

“Why don’t we show you what we made, Mama?” Carmine redirects the conversation. “We… um, the sweet buns are a little bit overbaked, but Mommy and I tested them, and they’re still good!”

“Oh, Carmine, let’s pour tea before we eat,” Byleth reaches for the pot. 

“Right! I got so excited to show Mama what we made…” Carmine trails off. 

She grips the teapot with her small hands, painted shiny red, firmly. Byleth holds her hands gently around the bottom of the pot in case she drops it, and Carmine pours three perfect cups of Hresvelg blend tea. El likes sweets, so she puts sugar in hers, and some cream. Byleth uses neither cream nor sugar. Carmine takes sugar, but no cream. Byleth wonders what their twins will take in their tea when they’re old enough.

“El,” Byleth says, “give me one of the babies, you can’t eat like that.”

“Oh, certainly,” El says, like she’s forgotten she was holding them. 

And Byleth sits on the sofa with Carmine next to her, and her infant daughter in her arms, watching Carmine serve her family. El’s eyes light up when she sees the sweet buns, which _are_ a bit well done, but they’re still pretty. The soup turned out very well, and El slurps it up like she’s forgotten her station. Byleth loves her when she does that. Byleth always loves her. It’s nutritious, even if it isn’t chef’s quality, and it eases Byleth’s worry when she can see El’s health. Edelgard doesn’t forget to care for herself, exactly, but when she gets too tied up in emperor business she does suffer for it. Growing up, with her father, Byleth always rested easier when she could watch over him. 

Byleth listens to Carmine start to explain how they cooked lunch. Without looking away from her, Byleth reaches out to hold El’s left hand. El has stopped writing, briefly. She’s indulging her wife and child by taking a break, really. It’s not for herself, in El’s eyes, though she does enjoy herself. It makes her happy. 

Edelgard laces their fingers together, smiling at her daughter with her eyes and dimples on her cheeks. 

Byleth thinks everything feels very cottony and warm. She’s not used to describing feelings, something recent to improve her spirit. This is one she’ll have to ponder.

**Author's Note:**

> @sylvainplath on twt, kofi, etc.


End file.
